Castlevania: Requiem of Sorrow
by JCroe
Summary: Soma has joined Arikado's group, the International Supernatural Defense Force. But after the months following the With Light incident, devils are running rampant in the human world. Now someone has kidnapped Mina and Soma needs to find out who!
1. Chapter 1

Castlevania: Requiem of Sorrow Chapter: Current

ISDFLog_Agent:Cruz_Soma[X]

Date:2037.01.26_Log01

For a while after the "With Light" incident, supernatural events around the world quieted down considerably.

Even my own Power of Dominance was inactive.

This peace only lasted six months.

Now, seeing a ghost or a demon is an everyday thing.

Citizens of every nation are terrified.

They're afraid to even leave their own homes, but they're not even safe there.

This is the reason I joined the International Supernatural Defense Force.

I was asked to join ISDF after defeating Dmitrii Blinov, who had been overtaken by the abberation we have dubbed "Menace."

I joined without hesitation.

I didn't want these evil monsters roaming this earth any longer.

I fear that things will soon get very bad.

I pray to God that I am wrong.

Soma__LOG\e

Soma closed the device. He felt scared. Devils were getting more and more common. He was worried about Mina's safety.

"Soma, you look worried," Arikado asked, appearing silently behind Soma.

"Ever since these creatures have started pouring into our world, I've been getting this strange feeling. I can handle a certain amount of souls, but there are just too many monsters. I can't take more souls at some points, and it feels like I'm going to explode." He sighed. Arikado gave him a little pat on the back.

"Come on, Soma, let's go see Yoko. She should be able to help."

Yoko's Soul Release ability was extremely helpful. It made Soma feel less overwhelmed by the souls now residing in his body.

A ghoul started rising up from a puddle of blood on the ground. Soma kicked its head off before it could stand up. "Damn, they're rising more quickly than usual. Not that I couldn't take out an entire line of them with a swift sliding kick," Soma said quickly, trying to put Arikado's mind at ease.

As they walked down the street, they saw Yoko running toward them. "Soma, it's terrible!" she shouted. "Someone's kidnapped Mina!"

Soma stopped dead in his tracks. "What did you say?" He stared at Yoko, waiting for the words to sink in. Without warning, he dashed up to her, grabbing her by the shoulders, shouting, "Who did it? Where did they go?"

"It was an unfamiliar woman. I don't know her, but she seemed to know you, Mina, Julius and myself. I saw riding on a devil's back, toward the east," Yoko said quietly, obviously jarred by Soma's sudden outburst.

Soma started running, but Arikado grabbed his collar, jerking him back. "Where do you think you're going, Soma?"

"I'm going to find Mina and bring her back!" he snarled. He swatted Arikado's hand away, rushing away with a Black Panther soul.

Yoko started to run after him, but Arikado grabbed her collar, jerking her back. "Where do you think you're going Yoko?"

"I'm going after Soma to make sure he doesn't get himself killed," she said, grabbing Arikado's hand, "and you're coming with me!"

Arikado, having long ago learned not to question human women, ran with her, pulling out his ISDF phone. He pushed a button on it, and a shadowy figure appeared on the screen. "Boss, Agent Soma Cruz is in pursuit of a suspicious individual who has kidnapped Mina Hakuba, I'm requesting replacements to cover my and Yoko Belnades' assigned areas. And I'd like to call in a favor to Julius Belmont if you can manage getting him."

"Request granted, Agent Arikado. As for Julius, he's here. I'll send him to where you're going. Over," the shadowy figure said, and the screen went to static.

After about a day of rushing at maximum speed over land and ocean, Soma arrived at a shadowy castle about 20 miles off the coast of Tokyo. It was held in place by a floating island about 30 feet above Soma. He growled at the ledge, which seemed to be taunting him.

Out of nowhere, a giant fish surfaced behind Soma. He looked back at it. "So, Rahab, we meet again. What do you want, you overgrown carp?"

Rahab just looked at him, devoid as always of any emotion. It dove back underwater, leaving Soma hovering with the power of the Medusa Head soul.

"What's wrong, fish face? You scared?" Soma shouted after it, but it had already vanished into the blue abyss. Without warning, Rahab shot out of the water from just underneath Soma, pushing him up to the ledge. Soma recognized his chance and grabbed the ledge. He pulled himself up and looked at Rahab. "Did you just… help me?" Soma looked confused. Why would a past enemy of his be helping him?

Soma felt a cold, dark presence behind him. He'd felt it before. It was something he'd felt twice. He turned slowly, anticipating a sharp blow, but none came. He saw Death floating behind him. "I don't have time to fight you, Death," Soma said, trying to control his voice. Death caused this intense fear every time you looked at him. But it was slightly different this time. Soma couldn't feel the killing intent that Death normally had.

"Do you think I want to fight you, Soma Cruz? We have had our differences in the past, but this time, I'm on your side," Death said, his chilling voice causing Soma to shudder. "Something dark is happening in this castle. But I can't enter because of this," he continued, throwing his skeletal hand backwards. It stopped dead, resisted by some transparent force. The spot where Death's hand was being resisted seemed to refract. "I believe this may have something to do with Dracula, but whoever it is that is doing this is unknown to me. You know that I hate those who blaspheme the name of Dracula, right, Soma?"

"Don't talk to me like we're friends, Death. Remember that I'm the reincarnation of Dracula?"

"True enough, Soma Cruz, but I still believe that this situation is suspicious. There should be nowhere that I can't go; yet this barrier stops even me."

"So, you want me to go in to investigate? How do you expect _me_ to get past the barrier?"

"The barrier rejects all spiritual bodies, but your physical body will be able to enter."

"Alright. I'll go. I have business here anyway," Soma said, walking towards the barrier.

"Wait," Death commanded. He halted Soma with his boney hand, sending a massive chill through Soma's spine. "If you go beyond this barrier, you may not be able to leave until you break it down. Be careful, Soma Cruz," he said, recalling his hand into his robes.

Soma nodded. "So this is what it's like to make a deal with Death," he noted as he crossed through the barrier. He had barely set a foot inside it when he felt his insides tearing themselves apart. He screamed as the multitude of souls he'd collected over the past months rushed out of his body, escaping into the confines of the castle ahead of him. He collapsed, only able to utter a single word, "Mina…" With that, his consciousness faded from him, and Death vanished, saying only, "May you awaken and succeed, Soma Cruz. If you die here, your soul will never belong to me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter for Requiem! Enjoy it! JCroe**

"…"

"Huh?"

"…ma?"

"Eh?"

"Soma? Can you hear me," Yoko said as Soma awoke. He could tell that he was on his back. He saw Yoko kneeling over him, and Arikado and Julius standing behind her. Soma's mind was blank. He couldn't remember where he was or why he was there. Then it came flooding back to him.

"Mina!" he shouted, shooting upward. He suddenly felt very dizzy, falling to his knees.

"Don't try to move, Soma," Yoko told him. "We found you collapsed up here. How did you get up on this ledge in the first place?"

"Rahab," Soma replied. He looked around. Where did Death go, he thought.

Arikado came forward. "We have intelligence on this place, Soma." Soma looked at him questioningly. "This castle is identical to one owned by Serill Lowenthall. Except for the floating-over-the-ocean part. Serill is about your age, of wealthy ancestry, and generally out of the public eye. Not even ISDF knows much about her. However, that crest on the castle is most definitely the Lowenthall Crest."

"Does it look like I care? I'm here to rescue Mina, that's it," Soma said, glowering.

"Wait, Soma," Yoko said. "Did you say Rahab helped you get up here? The same Rahab that you fought in Celia Fortner's castle?"

"Yeah. I'd recognize that giant fish anywhere. I also met Death here."

Julius, who had been pacing, tripped upon hearing this. "You mean Death was here?" he questioned. "And you survived?"

"He didn't want to fight me, as strange as this sounds. He wanted to get in here, but there was a barrier that blocked outside spiritual bodies from getting in," Soma explained. Then, in a sudden realization, he began to laugh. "So that's what happened to me. I thought the barrier was rejecting me, but it was the souls of the monsters I've collected."

Arikado looked at him like he was crazy. "So you're saying that you're powerless right now. That's just wonderful," he said sarcastically.

Yoko slowly helped Soma to his feet. "What were you thinking, running off like that?" she scolded. "You almost died, too!"

Soma breathed a heavy sigh. Almost at once, something came flying at the congregation. Soma caught it, proving to himself that his reflexes hadn't failed him. It was a bone. Yoko made a retching sound. Soma's eyes darted to where the thing had come from. He spotted a pack of skeletons. "So the enemy reveals itself," he said.

"You want to handle this?" Arikado asked, eliciting a grin from Soma.

"I'm all over these guys," he growled, reaching for his weapon case. It wasn't there. It must have fallen in the water when Rahab slapped him. Soma sighed again. "Guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way," he grumbled, pulling a knife out of his pocket, charging at the undead beasts. He slashed with the knife, severing one of the creature's skulls. It lunged at him, its claw-like fingertips stained with blood from some previous encounter. Soma punched its sternum, causing it to break into pieces. "One down." He did a sliding kick, taking out another two skeletons at the legs. They fell to the ground, shattering on impact. "Two, three," Soma continued. The last skeleton attacked him from behind. It slashed at Soma's back, ripping a hole in his new jacket, cutting into his skin. Though his previous adventures had toughened him up significantly, Soma definitely felt the cut. He cringed, but tried to shake off the pain. However, he just couldn't get over the hole. Infuriated, he screamed, "Mina just got me this new coat, you bastard!" He wheeled around, kicking the skeleton's neck, shattering its spine.

Rising from each of the skeletons was a small silver orb of light. They shot toward Soma, circling his body. They floated around him for a moment, shimmering between three different colors: red, blue and yellow. Yoko looked at them like they were the most beautiful things ever. Arikado and Julius thought differently. They rushed up to Soma, who hadn't really noticed the souls because he was tending to the tear in his jacket.

"Soma, look at the souls of these skeletons," Julius said quietly.

He turned to look at the souls, and was surprised to see that they were all three colors of his tactical souls. Just as a test, he envisioned the skeleton, morphing it in his mind into a sword. As he opened his eyes, he saw a bone in his hand. He closed his eyes again, turning the skeleton into a shield. Opening his eyes, he saw himself encompassed by a cage of bones, stemming from the back of his jacket. "Interesting," he murmured. "So the souls have evolved with their environment."

Julius spoke up, saying, "Alucard and I will go investigate the castle. Yoko, you should stay here and assist Soma wherever he needs it." This elicited a sort of pout from Yoko, but she swallowed her pride and didn't resist Julius' orders. Arikado glared at him for using his 'real' name, but he too swallowed his pride as he ran ahead.

"See you around, Soma, and be careful," Arikado said as he passed by Soma, disappearing into the darkness ahead. Julius followed close behind, simply nodding to Soma and Yoko.

"So, where should we start?" Yoko asked.

"For starters… we could follow them," Soma suggested, as the way that Arikado and Julius had taken was the only visible entrance. He glared into the darkness, walking side by side with Yoko. He only thought one thing. _Somewhere in this place, Mina is waiting for me. I just hope I'm not too late._ With these thoughts, he plunged into the dark entrance.


	3. Chapter 3

Castlevania: Requiem of Sorrow Chapter: Current

Soma crept his way through the darkness. He was in a cave, but the walls seemed too smooth to be natural. Yoko followed closely behind him, providing a small but welcomed light to see in the darkness. The two eventually reached a set of large, wooden doors. They were open, but just barely. Soma peeked inside, getting a look at what was ahead of him. It was a huge shaft, with light streaming down from above. A small group of zombies skulked around in the center of the floor while some bats fluttered about, screeching. A large ball sat on the ground. It had purple flesh with more thorns than a rosebush. Soma recognized it as a peeping eye, something he had fought since he first entered Dracula's castle.

A dim light shone from a room on a small ledge above the exit on the other side of the shaft. It was likely that this room had some healing magic in it, since he'd encountered this too in both Dracula's and Celia Fortner's castles. There was a series of pedestals that would give him easy access, but an axe armor, yet another familiar foe, guarded the very top where the entrance to this special room was.

Soma whispered to Yoko to go on ahead and set up camp somewhere. "I have to check out that room up there." Yoko nodded, slipping into the room. Soma saw her sneak past all the enemies in the room, proceeding to slip into the exit of the shaft, disappearing from view. Soma snuck into the room the same way Yoko had done. He spotted a short sword by the door. He picked it up, readying himself to use it. This would be much more effective than his knife. He continued his thief-like sneaking and almost got to the pedestals unnoticed when his phone suddenly rang, blaring "Darkness of Fear." It was a good song, but right now, Soma hated the sound for alerting his enemies to his presence. He opened his phone while readying himself for combat. "Hi, uh, this really isn't a good time," he said as he answered. "Can I call you ba—" He was cut off.

"Soma! Hey, how've ya been, kiddo?" the caller said boisterously. "It's me, Hammer! Where are ya? I haven't been able to reach you for the past few days!"

"Seriously, Hammer, this is NOT a good time," Soma snarled as he took a swing at the zombies creeping towards him. Three of them were sliced in half, spraying blood everywhere. The peeping eye had woken up and unfurled its tail, beginning to glide towards Soma.

"Well, so—rry!" Hammer exclaimed. "Aww, man, don't tell me you're off at some god-knows-what-infested castle again slicing up evil shit _again_, man. I thought you were over that."

"Hammer, I'm a LITTLE busy right now," Soma shouted, swinging madly at the peeping eye and bats. The eye made a little sound that seemed so much like laughter that it wasn't even funny as it floated just outside Soma's reach. Soma materialized a bone. He hurled it at the eye, hitting it square in the pupil, which caused the monstrosity to spiral out of the sky, crumpling on the ground. "Take that, shit-eyeball!" he shouted, forgetting that Hammer was still on the phone.

"What th' hell did you call me, you little—"

"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't talking to you," Soma interjected, materializing the bone cage to protect himself from the bats that now swarmed him. It seemed to be fairly effective at holding off weak strikes, but even the repeated clattering of the bats was enough to rattle the bones. "Seriously, Hammer, can I call you back?"

"Don't worry yourself, Soma. I've already tracked your location, so I should be there in about two or three hours. See ya then, kid!" With that, the line went dead.

Soma sighed, pocketing the phone. He took a stab through the cage at one of the more stubborn bats, which squealed as a small ball of light shot out of it and into his chest. He pulled the bone cage back, letting the bats swarm towards him before firing off a bat-inspired shriek. The swarm recoiled, falling to the ground. "Hello, old friend," he said to himself. This version of the bat soul was something he'd sorely missed in his last adventure.

Soma quickly sidestepped, dodging a thrown axe. He'd forgotten about the armor. He swung his sword, just in time to counter another axe. He jumped up the pedestals, dodging the tossed axes. Jumping up onto the armor's ledge, Soma rushed at the thing, got in close, and released his bat-cry. The armor brought its hands to its helmet, as if deafened by the cry. Soma stole its axe and cleaved the armor in half, revealing it to be just that: empty armor, save for yet another glowing soul. It shot into Soma's chest, like the rest of the souls. He visualized the armor in his mind. It morphed into a suit of armor covering Soma's body. Opening his eyes, he saw that the axe he had taken from the armor was glowing. He swung with the axe. A shockwave emanated from the blade, cutting away at the stone surface beneath him. "That's new," he said, walking into the glowing room.

As in his previous adventures, the room contained a statue. This time, it was a woman kneeling in front of an altar, praying, as a small angel perched on her shoulder. Soma touched the angel's head, feeling a strange yet familiar warmth sweep over him. It was refreshing. He felt energized.

Soma ran out of the room, but was greeted by the slain armor, re-formed and standing before him. It readied an axe to throw at Soma, but before it could make the toss, Soma slashed at it with the axe he had taken from it. He missed, but the shockwave flew out, boring into the armor's torso, cutting it in half. The top half fell to the ground, dropping the axe it had planned to throw. The arms of the thing flailed for a moment before righting itself. "What the freak?" Soma said. He did a sliding kick, knocking the armor's head off, sending it flying into the new peeping eye. It bounced off the eyeball, which rolled backwards from the impact, straight over the congregation of zombies. Soma's eye twitched. He'd never seen _that_ happen in his two previous adventures. He leapt off the platform and into the next room before the bats or the peeping eye could follow him.

Inside, he saw a zombie skulking around a large, glowing door. The zombie saw him, and crept toward him, moaning in its hunger for fresh flesh. Soma swung the axe down on the abomination's head, splattering it against the floor. Another soul shot into Soma's chest. Curious, he tested the soul. It made him feel sick. He fell to the floor and coughed up a large amount of blood. "Better not try that again," he said weakly.

However, he didn't feel sick or even hurt after he got up. He stepped forward, but the blood he'd coughed up had hardened, jabbing into his foot. He cringed, stepped off, held his foot and swore under his breath. He became curious, though. He picked up the hardened blood and threw it at the wall. It cut into the stone, sinking about five or six inches in. "Intriguing," Soma remarked. He knew that he'd likely regret this very much later, but he tried the soul again. This time, he didn't allow the sickening feeling to drop him. The glob of blood spewed out of his mouth, cutting several feet into the wall. "Disgusting, but effective. I should save this as a panic button."

Soma walked over to the glowing door and ran his fingers along the gilding. The golden frame shone brightly as the door slowly opened, revealing the way forward. Soma stepped forward, unafraid of whatever awaited him.


	4. Chapter 4

Castlevania: Requiem of Sorrow Chapter: 4

Soma stood in a familiar room. There was a dip in the floor, which was made of wooden planks. Who's doing this, he wondered. Two small lamps shone brightly on either wall, illuminating the room. In the center of the dip was a statue of an armored man with a cape. It had two large swords, each larger than Soma.

"I've seen this before…" Soma said, cautious not to speak too loud. He slowly stepped forward. "But it's too early to fight _him_."

As Soma said this, the statue whirled around to face him. The metal of the faceplate sank away into a black void, showing it to be an empty armor. The cape, which had been solid bronze, slowly became a vibrant blue cloth, swaying in the breeze.

"Crap," Soma said, palming his forehead.

The statue grabbed its two swords and leapt into the air. Had Soma not encountered this being before, he would have been surprised that it didn't crash back to the ground. Because it just hung there in the air, suspended, its cape whipping more fiercely as the wind picked up.

"Flying Armor…"

"…me…"

"Huh?" Where had that voice come from?

"…lp m…"

Soma gripped his axe tightly, ready to counter the armored freak's flying swords.

"_HELP ME!!! SAVE ME!!! KILL ME!!!"_

Soma finally realized that the armor was speaking to him. "What are you talking about? How are you even talking?"

"_DESTROY ME!!! KILL ME, SOMA CRUZ!!!"_

Soma closed his eyes. He could feel the spirit of the armor, writhing in agony. It was this spirit that was speaking to him. It knew him, it knew he could destroy its body and take it into him. "As you wish, old friend." Soma swung the axe powerfully. A shockwave resonated towards the armor. It impacted, cutting deeply into the metal. The spirit shrieked in agony. The armor threw both of its swords at Soma. He dodged one of them, but the other sliced into his arm, leaving a deep gash. Soma cringed, but he'd felt pain much worse than this.

And it was nothing compared to what the armor's soul was going through. It was likely being controlled against its will.

Soma looked back to see what the swords were doing. They were simply lying on the ground, quivering. He took his chance. He rushed up to the armor, pulled out his knife, and stabbed it in the face. It sunk down, cleaving the steel body of the armor. The scream of metal on metal was drowned out by the scream that the armor released as it crumpled to the floor, writhing in agony. A soul shot out of the armor, shimmering in three colors, as the armor crumbled into dust. The soul planted itself in Soma's chest, and he heard a faint voice in his ear, whispering "thank you."

"Don't mention it," Soma said quietly.

Soma stood for a moment, soaking in the quiet. He felt something warm on his arm. He looked, and saw that his arm was covered in blood. Even worse, his coat was torn and bloody. "Son of a bitch," he growled. Mina would kill him. If he ever saw her again. "Ah well, better get moving," he said, continuing on to the other side of the platform.

The floor gave out from underneath his feet. He panicked, but quickly calmed himself, calling the soul of the Flying Armor. He drifted down slowly, coming to rest on the floor next to a 6-foot tall spike. "That was close," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Yo, Soma! You in here?" a voice called out.

"Hammer? Is that you?"

"Soma! Hey there ya are!" Hammer appeared in the opening at the top of the shaft.

"You got a rope or something? I'm kinda stuck down here."

"Huh? Can't ya turn into a bat or something?"

"Not at the moment. If you've got a rope, toss it down. I need a hand out."

"Okay, sure thing." Hammer tossed down the end of a rope. "Okay, climb on out."

Soma climbed up the rope, and finally reached the opening. "Hammer, I'm really glad to see you. I've got no idea what I would've done if you hadn't come along just then," he said, clamoring out of the hole.

Hammer was beaming. "No problem. Hey, is that lady Yoko here?"

Soma sighed. "You just don't give up, do you? Yeah, she's here. I sent her on ahead. She's probably fine."

Hammer gawked as if Soma had just done something highly inappropriate. "How could you have sent her into this here castle all by her lonesome? What if she gets hurt?"

"Like I said, she's probably fine. In fact, she's probably more capable here than I am."

Hammer looked slightly hurt, but at least he stopped fussing. "Let's go meet up with her then."

"Sure, I was actually heading to meet up with her myself. She should be just up ahead here, a couple rooms away." Soma went over to the door out of the room and opened it. He went to take a step in and stopped. "You know, I'm getting tired of all these traps! Even Dracula didn't have that many traps in his castle!" he shouted. He peered down the drop just inside the door. He couldn't see the bottom. He also noted that the clearance of the hall was nowhere near enough to make it with a jump. He thought for a moment, then an idea hit him. He visualized the Flying Armor as a weapon, and a giant sword appeared in his hand. It was perfect. He placed it across the gap, still holding the handle. "Hammer, get across on the sword," he said.

"Right," Hammer said, crossing obediently. He turned back to Soma. "You comin'?"

"Yeah, just a second." He stepped onto the blade, ensuring he was still touching it until he was fully on it. He crossed carefully, and stepped off on the other side, making the sword vanish instantly. "Come on," he said, stepping past Hammer, "let's find Yoko."

Well? How about it? Am I doing well so far? Read and Review Please!


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